Francis Bacon
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Francis Bacon lived from 1561 to 1626. In his lifetime, he had created the scientific method. This is a set of instructions to conduct an experiment. This process is still used today. The scientific method is made up of 7 steps. The first step is called the hypothesis. In this step a scientists makes an educated guess on what the outcome will be. Then the scientists test hypothesis under all conditions to see if it is true.
Nicolaus Copernicus
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Nicolaus was a polish mathematician. He was leading the scientific revolution. In 1543 Copernicus released a book entitled On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres. Copernicus disagreed with Ptolemy's theory about the earth being the center of the universe. He stated that the sun was in the center of the universe and that all of the planets revolved around it.
René Descartes
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Descartes was one of the most important scientific thinkers. He had written a book in 1637 called Discourse on Method. He believed that mathematics was the source of all scientific truth. He said that in mathematics the answers were always true. This was because mathematics only used simple concepts back then. Today, Descartes is viewed as the founder of modern rationalism.
Galileo Galilei
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Gelileo was an Italian scientist who made the third great breakthrough in the scientific revolution. He discovered that scientific instruments could help us learn the world more. He improved many instruments such as the clock and telescope. With the telescope Galileo found new evidence supporting Copernicus' theory. When Galileo punblished his findings in 1637, the Roman Catholic Church condemned it.
Johannes Kepler
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Kepler was a german scientist that took the next step forward in astronomy. He supported Copernicus' theory and made corrections to it. He stated that the planets move in an oval and not in a circle. His theory marked the beginning of modern astronomy.
Isaac Newton
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One day an apple had fallen in front of Isaac Newton. That is what led to him discovering about gravity. Newton had publish a book in 1687 called Principia, which stated his laws, or theories, of motion. The law of universal gravitation was probably the most important. It states how the entire universe is put together.
Ptolemy
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Ptolemy was a mathematician, astronomer, geographer, astrologer, and a poet. Ptolemy was also the author of at least three scientific treatises. These treaties were very important to later islamic and European science. He also believed that the sun and other planets revolved around the earth. Everyone believed him for many years, until other scientists disagreed with his theory.
Vocabulary
Scientific Method = An orderly way of collecting and analyzing evidence
Sun-centered Universe = Copernicus' theory that states that the sun, not the earth, is the center of the universe